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"Understanding the World's Greatest Structures: Science and Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity -- a marvelous learning experience that takes you around the world and reveals the stories behind the most famous bridges, churches, skyscrapers, towers, and other structures from thousands of years of history. These 24 lectures take you on a fascinating and richly illustrated tour that deftly blends history and science to create an unforgettable survey of our world's most remarkable structural masterpieces, one informed by the fundamentals of structural engineering and their underlying scientific principles."--Publisher.Read more...

Disc 1. Learning to see and understand structure --
The science of structure : forces in balance --
Internal forces, stress, and strength --
From wood to steel: properties of materials --
Building up : columns and buckling --
Building across : beams and bending. Disc 2. Trusses : the power of the triangle --
Cables and arches : the power of the parabola --
Loads and structural systems --
Egypt and Greece : pyramids to the Parthenon --
The glory of Rome in arches and vaults. Disc 3. Three great domes : Rome to the Renaissance --
How iron and science transformed arch bridges --
Suspension bridges : the battle of the cable --
Suspension bridges : the challenge of wind --
Great cantilever bridges : tragedy and triumph --
The rise of iron- and steel-framed buildings. Disc 4. The great skyscraper race --
The beauty and versatility of modern concrete --
Amazing thin shells : strength from curvature --
Vast roof systems of iron and steel --
The incredible lightness of tension structures --
Strategies for understanding any structure.

Abstract:

"Understanding the World's Greatest Structures: Science and Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity -- a marvelous learning experience that takes you around the world and reveals the stories behind the most famous bridges, churches, skyscrapers, towers, and other structures from thousands of years of history. These 24 lectures take you on a fascinating and richly illustrated tour that deftly blends history and science to create an unforgettable survey of our world's most remarkable structural masterpieces, one informed by the fundamentals of structural engineering and their underlying scientific principles."--Publisher.